1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus (such as a video tape recorder [VTR]) having a capstan motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, a helical scan VTR is provided with both a front loading mechanism and a tape-loading mechanism. When a video tape cassette containing a video tape is horizontally inserted into the cassette insertion port formed in the front face of the VTR, the front loading mechanism receives and draws the cassette inside, and then lowers the cassette until it comes to the predetermined cassette-loading position. Thereafter, the tape-loading mechanism pulls the tape out of the cassette placed at the cassette-loading position and guides the tape such that it is in contact with about half of the circumference of the rotating cylinder. After the tape-loading mechanism sets the tape along the tape feed path in this way, various operation modes, such as recording, play, freeze (i.e., still image reproduction), slow play, fast-forward play, fast-rewind play, fast forward, and fast rewind, are selectively established with a mode-establishing mechanism and its associated circuits. If an eject key is operated, the tape-loading mechanism draws the tape back into the cassette, and the front loading mechanism returns the cassette from the cassette-loading position to the cassette insertion port.
With the recent trend toward miniaturization, it is demanded that the structural components of this type of magnetic recording/reproducing apparatus be simplified and reduced in both number and weight, without adversely affecting the ability to control the operation with high accuracy.
In a conventional VTR, the front loading mechanism for moving tape cassette to the predetermined tape-loading position, the tape-loading mechanism for pulling the tape out of the tape cassette and bringing the tape into contact with the cylinder, and the tape-driving mechanism for driving the loaded tape are all driven or controlled by the use of different motors specially designed for their respective purposes. Since each of these specially-designed motors can be controlled with high accuracy independently of the others, the operation of the driven-components of the VTR can be controlled with high accuracy. Due to the use of the specially-designed motors, however, the construction of the conventional VTR cannot be easily reduced in size or weight. It is therefore too difficult to manufacture a simple, light-in-weight VTR which meets the recent trend toward miniaturization.
Under these circumstances, it is thought to combine the front loading mechanism, the tape-loading mechanism and the tape-driving mechanism together in such a way that they can be driven or controlled by the same motor. If these mechanisms are combined in this way, the number of structural components can be reduced, so that a small-sized, light-in-weight VTR can be obtained. However, if the three mechanisms are merely combined together, they cannot be driven or controlled with high accuracy by the single motor. Therefore, the highly-accuracy control of the operation of the VTR becomes impossible to perform.